Squiggles in Sawdust
by Lafs
Summary: The Uchiha household holds Sasuke's parents, Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto. But that's going to change when shy Hinata is disowned from her own family and moves in with them. A dramatic story of love and friendship will unfold. Hinata x Sasuke
1. A Shallow Liking

**ONE: A Shallow Liking.**

Hi all, it's me, again. I think I've got this fanfic figured out so I know which way the story will turn. This is SasuHina, and I'm not sure if Naruto will end up with anyone. He'll be in this story alot though, and there'll come a time when he gets close to a certain someone, and its just close friendship and not yaoi- unless you want to interpret it that way.. It'll turn right, later on. The Sakura here will be shallow and rather disagreeable (I've never found much use for her character). Sasuke is supposed to have that bad-boy thing going for him, but I won't make him swear. (I don't use that language, myself) Just keep in mind that he is the bad-boy type. The first few chapters will lead in a SasuSaku area but it'll change. Trust me. I'm the one writing this.

And I don't own Naruto, but I own this storyline!

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**_____Sasuke's POV_____**

I came into my bedroom with a sigh. It was so hot outside. By the way if you wanted to know who I was, I'm Sasuke Uchiha, 16 years old. 'Sup.

My stupid sweaty shirt was sticking to me like gladwrap, and I pulled it off as fast as I could. I threw it on the bed and turned, finding a blonde haired loser looking at me.

"Sasuke!."

"_You_ again." I sneered, and walked over to my wardrobe to pull out a clean shirt.

"That's not how you greet your best friend!" Naruto pouted, glancing at my chest. His eyes narrowed.

"What." I threw the sweaty shirt at him, which he dodged.

"Teme!! Your pecs are bigger than mine already???" Naruto pulled off his own shirt to compare.

I looked at his, satisfied that mine were broader and firmer. It's not hard to see which one of us is ALWAYS gonna get the girl. I started to smile, but then I turned it into a scowl.

"You moron, it's just a TINY bit bigger." _More like heaven and earth_, I thought. I mean, if I said what I'd been thinking then he'd definitely start training until he broke something. That was how it'd almost always been between us - hardcore rivalry was a big ingredient on our friendship.

"Hmmm..." Naruto looked at his own pecs again, turning away.

I shook my head and found a shirt to wear. I had just pulled it halfway over my head when I heard Naruto's voice again.

"Whoa!! Pink Hair Alert!!"

Hm? Pink hair? A flash of a hot chick with great curves came into my head.

I pulled the shirt on quickly and went to where Naruto was. He was looking out of my window, grinning. I followed his gaze and saw her.

Sakura.

Yes, I admit that I had ignored girls for years- but now that we were grown up I just realised how HOT Sakura was. Man, was she annoying when we were young but now- check out that beautiful body! Her curves were all in the right places, and she was the hottest chick in school, and I was the hottest guy, so its like we were made for each other---

"Man! I can TOTALLY see her curves through her clothing... That is one FINE piece of flesh! What is she, a D-Cup?" Naruto grinned, interrupting my thought process.

I scowled, not looking at him. Jerk. She's mine. Mine. Mine....

Before I could realise it I had blurted out ,"Dobe, you said you were over her." in that tone which was oozing with pure jealousy. Not that I had meant for it to come out that way.

"Teme! I forgot she was ALREADY CLAIMED." said Naruto, meaningfully.

The way he stretched the last two words caught my attention. My eyes darted to his face. Naruto, all this time, had been watching me with the hugest grin that could fit on his face. The whiskers on his cheeks were making those horrible arches that always happened when he smiled like that, and his blue eyes had that mirth in them which made me want to hit him. The stupid guy was messing with me!

I rolled my eyes.

"Just die already." I shoved his shoulder. His face now lost the expression of merriment and had adopted a serious look.

"I wish you'd ask her out already. I heard she likes you anyway, so there's no need for hesitation. But then you ARE _The Sasuke_, known to have hoards of girls worship you and turn you into some cult. You'd better get with Sakura , cos it _was_.... kinda..... _hard_ to give her up..." Naruto now trailed off, his tanned hands fidgeting nervously. A short moment of silence ensued.

Despite the fact that I was a jerk most of the time, I suddenly felt a pang of guilt hit me like a wrecking ball. That's right. I sighed. I knew Naruto had been crushing on Sakura badly since dinosaurs started roaming the planet. Time and time again, Sakura didn't pay attention to him and only cared about me. It was about the time when I found her attractive and we were both giving each other flirty looks that Naruto had somehow figured it out. He gave her up, saying that she would've never wanted him anyway. This is Naruto I'm talking about, who _never_ gave up on anything_. ANYTHING_. And I knew that he had done that for me.

I feel like a tool, _dammit._

Naruto was still fidgeting his hands, then he snapped out of it as quickly as he had come into the topic.

"...And I think my ramen's done!" Naruto ran off flailing, like he did everyday to his beloved steaming noodles.

I watched him excitedly sniff at the ramen that was sitting on the table. He looked completely happy now, and I couldn't tell if he was faking it or not.

Still, if I am going to be with Sakura, I might as well do it quickly so that he wouldn't be left with lingering affections for her.

**____ Hours later._____**

We were feeling hungry. That is, Naruto and me. So we went down to the kitchen to find some food to scarf down. If you're wondering why the hell Naruto is rummaging through my fridge right now like he owns the place, that's because he lives here too. Naruto moved in to my room, taking the upper bunk bed, because it's closer for him to go to school from my crib.

My dad came into the kitchen with his newspaper. He looked at Naruto disapprovingly, who had a chicken wing in his mouth.

"You're _STILL_ hanging out with that guy?" he said rudely, and walked out again into the living room. Talk about manners.

As soon as he was out of the room Naruto hissed at me. "Does he _ALWAYS_ have to treat me like that??"

I shrugged.

This time, my Mum came in, holding an unopened letter in her hand.

Naruto greeted her happily, since she was always nice to him.

"Oh hi, Mrs Uchiha."

"Dear, you can call me "Kate, " She said with a dreamy look. Naruto opened his mouth and was (probably) going to say to me, "What's with that?," but before anything happened Pops came in again. I figured he'd been listening in on us or something for such fast action.

"KATE?!?!" he roared, "- Did you forget your Japanese roots woman!? _Kate!! _HAH! ," he openly scoffed, leaning on the counter. When it was clear his remark wasn't being appreciated he walked out again.

Mum rolled her eyes. I smirked.

"What's that." I nodded in the direction of the letter in her hand.

She flipped the envelope over, and looked at it.

"It's from an old friend of mine. I wonder why she wrote me a letter, we haven't contacted each other in years." Mum frowned, also walking out the room.

"Well." Naruto turned back to the fridge, still raiding. He pulled out a carton of almost finished milk, and drunk it.

I squinted at the use-by date. "Dobe, that's 4 days overdue."

"I can handle it." Naruto shrugged.

**___Not long after, bedtime_____**

I could hear Naruto groaning from above my head in the upper bunk.

"Told you so." It was good that he didn't see my face right then, because I think I was using my smuggest smirk at the moment.

He turned over on his bed, growling.

"_Teme, shut up_."

**______Normal POV_______**

Naruto's stomach stopped aching , much to his relief. He could tell that Sasuke was fast asleep in the bunk below from the way he was breathing.

Naruto stared at the ceiling, looking at those glow-in-the-dark stars he had stuck there without Sasuke knowing, from a while back.

Suddenly, he heard an angry hiss. Naruto pulled the pillow over his head. He knew what was coming, although he hadn't heard it in ages.

_"Naruto... you thought that I'd gone huh?"_ the darkly vehement voice echoed in Naruto's head. The blonde boy scrunched his hands next to his temples. This wasn't normal! Normal people didn't hear voices in their heads like this!

"What is it..." Naruto's voice came out low, and was the only sound in the room. He paused, and then continued, "...Kyuubi."

The Voice in his head started to laugh.

_"I see you haven't forgotten me. I'll make it short. I need blood, boy."_

Naruto's cerulean eyes widened, and if you looked closely enough you could see streaks of red darting in the blue.

"Shut up, I don't want to talk to you." He strained the words through gritted teeth.

The Voice didn't pay any attention to him, but it had gone sickeningly velvet in it's tone.

_"Sasuke... if he wasn't around, Sakura would be yours...."_

Naruto held his breath. "I'm not listening to you."

_"Kill him."_

"NO! GO AWAY!" Naruto's voice was loud now, but miraculously, Sasuke didn't wake up.

Naruto now shook underneath his sheets.

"Just leave me alone." his voice was hoarse.

The Voice sighed. _"I'll go now, but you can't run Naruto. As long as you live I'll be with you..."_ the voice now faded away, and Naruto's head was throbbing. The throbbing always meant that the Voice had left him. Naruto peered over the edge of the bunk to look at Sasuke, who was sleeping serenely, his face being ivory smooth in the gleam of a sliver of moonlight. Sasuke hardly ever looked innocent when he was awake, but now he looked like he was. Naruto gulped. He never told Sasuke of the Voice, after all these years.

"...I'll never kill him." Naruto stuck out his chin determinedly as he said it under his breath. A moment later, fatigue swept over him and he closed his eyes to sleep.

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A/N : Okay, it wasn't necessary to introduce Sasuke's parents like that. But I just had that image of Sasuke's 'father' in my head which I found so funny so I had to put it in. He reminds me of the dad from Clueless, you know when Cher comes downstairs in that dress and he's like "It looks like underwear." HAHAH. Blunt fathers are funny. Oh what was it... my friend's friend got a birthday present from her dad, and it was "Bruce Bigalow: Male Gigalo" DVD. She's like "DAD!!!" And he responds matter-of-factly, "It was on sale." HAHAHA Oh dear, *wipes tear* Well, Naruto's got Kyuubi in him! Will he be able to fight against the voice in his head? I'll bring in Hinata soon.

Anyways, I hope you liked that installment. Please R & R! No flames! And if there's a funny father moment you'd like to share please do!!

Until next chapter,

Lafs.


	2. The Annoyingly Shy

**TWO: The Annoyingly Shy**

Hello Ladies and Lads. (_Are_ there any lads reading this??) Thank you for the reviews so far! It's time for your update. Today we'll see a glimpse of the shy girl Hinata.

Enjoy.

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**________Normal POV_________**

Sasuke had somehow woken up early the next morning. Well, at least he always managed to wake up before his best friend did. But today, he was up _REALLY_ early, like 6AM.

Sasuke looked into the mirror quickly. His hair had now messed up big time, after the night of sleep.

"Bah." With skilled hands, he worked it into his trademark hairstyle.

He smirked now. _That's_ what looked good on him.

He figured he might as well wake up Naruto anyways, so he climbed the ladder and looked at his blond friend. The raven-haired boy shoved Naruto.

"Get up dobe."

Naruto's face scrunched up, _obviously_ still in sleep mode.

"....five more minutes.....ramen's just about ready..." he murmured. Sasuke rolled his eyes when Naruto started to chew on the pillow.

"....ramen tastes like....a monkey's butt...."

Sasuke gave up on him. He'd wake him when it was about time for school.

Anyways, since he'd woken up early he may as well go on a morning jog. Sasuke put on on his track pants and pulled on a hoodie. He rolled up the cuff on one of his pant legs. Then he left the house.

He had been jogging for an hour when he thought about what Naruto had said.

Yeah, he'd ask Sakura out today or soon anyways. She'd _definitely_ say yes, so all he needed to do was bring it up. Now, when should he ask her, in class or what? He growled, not used to thinking about dates and things like that. Somehow, the whole thing about asking Sakura out was making him just slightly nervous.

He glared at the air in front of him. No! No way was HE, _The Sasuke_ _NERVOUS_ about asking a girl out! He could just yawn in class and already half of the girls were swooning, and the other half hadn't seen him. He definitely wasn't nervous at all, not a single tiny-

**CRASH!**

"GODDAMMIT MORON! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" Sasuke yelled in annoyance, even if it was his fault in the first place.

He watched as a person in front of him was struggling on the ground. The person had dark short violet hair and was patting the ground. A boy, Sasuke thought. Next to the boy was a suitcase.

"I...I'm...so...sorry...." the soft voice was a female one.

Sasuke took a second look at the person, and was a little surprised that it was a girl. Usually his instincts were right about these things. He had a built-in sensor that seemed to warn him whenever there was a female near him, since it picked up the lovey dovey signals the girls were sending.

The girl was _still_ patting the ground, with her light blue eyes squinting. Sasuke's face twitched when he looked at her. _God_, it was one of those girls that didn't pay attention to what she looked like. No make-up, unplucked eyebrows, and she was wearing baggy clothes. It might as well have been a bloke. He _hated_ those types of chicks.

He didn't help her up, and turned to leave.

**Crack!**

Sasuke raised his left foot and looked under it. A pair of cracked glasses lay there. He was about to hand the girl her glasses when he thought that it was_ her_ fault for crashing into people like that anyway. In the short moment, the girl had found the glasses (because of the cracking noise) and had put them on again.

The girl didn't look at him, but saw that his legs were still there as she looked towards the ground.

"..Oh!"

Sasuke watched the girl fumble around one of her jacket pockets and take out a small piece of paper.

She held it to him, still looking down.

"D..do you..k...know where this....ad..address....is?" she asked nervously.

There was no reply.

"S...Sir??," asked the girl hopefully.

Silence.

She gulped, and she looked up at last.

She was alone.

**___________________________SASUKE'S POV_________________________**

I took quick shower when I got home. Then I changed into my uniform. I heard a snore coming from the bed.

Naruto was _still_ sleeping.

I smirked and grabbed onto two of the bed posts and shook them roughly. That did the trick.

"Arrgghhhh!!! EARTHQUAKE!!!" I heard Naruto's voice yell out.

Naruto got up quickly and banged his head on the ceiling, making a couple of stars fall off from the many that he had. For some reason, he still thinks I haven't seen them.

I let out a short chuckle.

"You're gonna suffer a lot of earthquakes whenever you sleep in."

He looked at me, taking in the situation. I expected that he would pout and go, "That's not fair!" but instead he took one look at me and the colour drained out of his face. I'd never seen anyone's face change so quickly.

I stopped smirking.

"Naruto?"

"Uh, Uhmmm.... MAN it's already 8?! " He took a look at my wall clock and scrambled off the bed.

He nervously buttoned his school shirt over his pj's. My eyes bulged. Naruto did funny things sometimes, but they were never things like this!

"What the hell?" I pointed out.

Naruto's eyes widened, and seemed to suddenly notice what he had been doing.

"Hahah." he laughed lamely and started changing, properly.

Meanwhile I had turned to the mirror and looked at myself. I was satisfied with what I saw. Untucked shirt, the top two buttons of my shirt, unbuttoned, great hair. Perfect. I noticed a rip on my pants.

Grabbing a pair of scissors of the table, I started to cut more holes in them, so that there were rips on both of the knees and more, placed artistically lower down.

I smirked at the effect.

**_______________AT BREAKFAST________________**

By now I was wondering what the hell was wrong with Naruto. He fidgeted with everything, and now was kicking distractedly at the breakfast table when he was shoveling down his cereal. That couldn't be healthy. And we weren't in a rush either, so why-

"Umph!" Naruto's face turned blue as a clump of 'Crunchy Clusters' got stuck in his throat. I raised my hand and was about to thump him on the back when he moved away and drank some water to get the blockage down.

He grinned.

"I'm leaving now, meeting someone." Without further explanation, he rushed off and slammed the front gate- after grabbing his bag.

I frowned.

Usually we went together, and if he was going to meet anyone- at least he'd be civil enough to mention it to me beforehand.

Pops looked up from his newspaper, his eyebrows high on his forehead.

"What's wrong with that guy?" Even I could discern the tiniest touch of concern that was in his voice. Looks like my old man didn't hate Naruto as much as we'd previously thought.

"He had a stomachache last night." I said, because my old man was still looking at me, as if waiting for an answer.

"I knew he'd drink that milk." Pops adjusted his tie, getting ready to go to work. It didn't matter even if he was late either, since he owned the entire Uchiha enterprise. I wasn't surprised that he knew why Naruto had a stomachache, even if I didn't tell him. He always seemed to know what was going on, even if he wasn't told.

"It's so sad.. So sad..." Mum came downstairs. Pops looked at her, but I kept on eating my cereal.

"What's wrong with your face?" my old man certainly had a way with words.

I glanced at her face briefly. Her eyes were red, and puffed up.

"Whoa." I stopped chewing.

Mum didn't pay attention to Pops words, but just wiped her eye with her hand. I saw in her other hand she was holding that letter again, this time it wasn't in the envelope.

She sniffed.

"The poor girl..."

My old man had gotten up from his chair and walked up next to me and Mum.

"Don't hold the suspense! Spill it!"

My mum opened the letter. There was a faint smell of lavender coming from it. She put it on the table in front of me, after moving the cereal out of the way.

"You should read it for yourself."

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A/N: What will the letter say? What's with Naruto? I was going to bring in Naruto's voices in way later in the story . But then I thought, "The hell with that! The sooner I write it down the quicker the story is done!" I'm having a bit of fun myself seeing how the little details are appearing, since I'm only really aware of the main story-line. The little fun bits come out when I start writing. Hehe.

Read and Review please! Hold the flames.

Lafs.


	3. The Unexpected Letter

**THREE: The Unexpected Letter**

Lafs here, bringing you the next chapter! This letter seems to bring quite a bit of havoc!

**_____________________________NORMAL POV__________________________________**

Sasuke picked up the letter that his mum had thrown on the table in front of him.

It was short, but effectively written in a fancy handwriting, with curves and loops everywhere.

_Shurira,_

_I know it has been years since I've contacted you but I don't have your phone number and only your address. I have a request to make and I know you have the most gentlest heart and would never refuse me._

_Remember how I worked for the Hyuuga's? They have a daughter, about your son's age who is a weak and shy creature. They have disowned her for being discrediting to their family as an heir and have bestowed the privilege upon a cousin of hers, Neji Hyuuga. Now they have thrown her out of the family. I wanted to take her and look after her myself, but they are a powerful family and they say that I shall never be able to live comfortably if I should attempt to do so._

_This was when I thought of you, who married into an equally influential family. If I should be able to send her to you, the Hyuuga's will be unable to do a thing against the Uchiha's shelter._

_Hinata (the girl), is a kind soul and I know you would enjoy her company. Please look after her for me, I have always seen her like my own daughter._

_She will arrive at your home on the 20th of December. I have told her that your family will welcome her and she is very grateful._

_Bless your soul,_

_Tsuchiko Yamada._

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. What _century_ was this lady writing from? _Bless your soul?_ He shuddered. It was completely different from the SMS-ing that he usually got which ended with 'Holla back." "ttyl" and "Ramen's done." (This last one was the one Naruto used.)

"That poor Hyuuga girl.... and Tsuchiko!! I never expected this from her!" His mother groaned, watching both males finish reading the letter.

The father coughed. "I've never even heard of this woman."

"Of course you have," Sasuke's mother snapped. "She's the one who I swore to be blood sisters with.... and this is what worries me most."

She now pointed at the date again. "That's today."

"You can always kick her out." said Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" his mother glared at him for the inappropriate remark.

"No-one will know."

She looked at him, and then started to smile.

"Oh, I don't object to her living with us! It's just that if she's coming _today_ then- where is she going to sleep?"

Sasuke shrugged as he looked at the time.

"Whatever. I'm not going to be friendly to her, just so you know."

He pulled his bag on.

"Gotta go."

"Wait." his father stopped him just as soon as he was going out the door.

"What?"

"This means that you and your friend can't walk around the house topless and in boxers anymore, you hear me?! And no hanky panky!"

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Love you too, dad" he said sarcastically, shutting the door.

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LOL, readers are probably wondering: WILL HE _EVER_ GET TO SCHOOL? _It's been 3 chapters!_ He will. Haha. I love Sasuke's parents, but in later chapters they're not going to get much spotlight. And I don't know Sasuke's mums name so thusly 'Shurira'. But Hinata will make a proper appearance! HOORAY for that!

Lafs.


	4. Before Meeting

**FOUR: Before Meeting**

Thank you for the reviews! Eek! My chapters keep getting shorter! So I wrote this to be a long one-but it got too long so I've split it into 2 parts which will be chapters 4 and 5. I can't help feeling a little proud that this has gone beyond 3 chapters though! That's a milestone for me!

**Sora,** thank you for Sasuke's mum's name: Mikoto! It's a good thing that as a precaution, I made her a person addicted to aliases huh? Well, Mikoto is her real name from now on! But she'll still have name-changing frenzies later whenever she starts watching movies. (Kate was from Kate and Leopold, etc.)

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**__________NORMAL POV_________**

The raven-haired boy sat at the back of the classroom. His arm was draped over the back of his chair, and his feet were stretched out and crossed over his desk. He looked out of the window blankly. Where was that idiot Naruto? He hadn't even seen him yet, and the bell had already rung. Sasuke started to graffiti on the windowsill with a felt-tip absentmindedly.

He was just drawing a cartoon of Kakashi-sensei with hamburger lips when he saw something pink outside the window.

"Hmph." his mouth twitched. Now wasn't the time to bother about Naruto's weird behaviour. He waited, still looking out.

_________________________________________________

Meanwhile, Naruto had been lying on his back on a grassy slope near the school. He watched the clouds drift by, and they reflected in his eyes. He remembered the time when he first became friends with Sasuke.

**_____________Flashback______________**

_"Hey, is sitting in the corner all that fun?" A wide-eyed Naruto came upon a small boy with black hair behind the bookcase in the children's classroom._

_The boy glared._

_" Course not, idiot! It might be- if I had a friend though." Sasuke pouted his bottom lip, wondering what was going to happen now. Apparently all the other kids hated him because he was always getting praised by the teacher, and none had tried to befriend him- especially with his glare aimed at whoever approached._

_Naruto didn't let it faze him. Most of the time he was off without friends himself because he loved playing pranks on people, and they didn't appreciate it._

_The blonde boy sat down next to the black haired boy._

_Sasuke stared._

_Naruto had put a hand into his own orange overalls and took out a mouse, very small and very frightened- but still alive._

_He beamed. "I heard Miss say that she would raise Hell if she saw one of these. So... wanna raise Hell with me?"_

_Sasuke looked at the mouse, then at Naruto. The corners of his little mouth twitched into an awkward smile. He wasn't used to smiling._

_"Sure."_

**___________End Flashback.___________**

The blond smiled sadly as he thought of the boy who he had become friends with. Who ever thought the day would come where he might harm him...

Naruto sat upright suddenly, growling at himself in anger.

Might?_ MIGHT?!_

He would _never_ hurt Sasuke! And what for? Kyuubi was off spouting that he should take revenge for Sasuke 'stealing his girl', but Naruto knew that Sakura was never his anyway! Sure, Sasuke wasn't the most lovable thing out there- but they were best friends! Naruto groaned, tousling his hair fervently with both hands.

He stopped briefly, reflecting.

And Sasuke! How should he face him? All morning when they were eating corn flakes and Naruto had happened to look at Sasuke but _once_. In that instance Sasuke seemed to have a halo around him. His eyes looked like big, puppy eyes when they met with Naruto's, and Naruto had felt that he was about to let an innocent lamb die.

Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration, twisting his lips around like he often did when he was trying to work out something.

He breathed deeply.

"Alright, I'll just act normally.... and then it'll all pass like nothing ever happened."

A crow or something screeched nearby, and broke Naruto's thoughts.

"DAMMIT!! SCHOOL!!" he grabbed his jacket and school bag and ran up the grassy slope.

**________________HINATA'S POV______________**

I sat down on a bench in a nice park with small children running around. My hand rested on my suitcase, playing with the zipper.

I gazed into the blue sky through the shady leaves which cast their shadows on my face.

_Where am I?_

I pressed my lips together and took off my glasses.

Everything became blurry all at once. But my fingers traced the cracks which were now on the glass.

_Hmmm,_ I mused. _How did they exactly break anyway? Sometime yesterday? No, it was this morning when I bumped into that man. Was it a man? His voice was pretty deep, but the words he used was definitely more like a person my age._

I put my glasses back on, and found the piece of paper which had the fancy, loopy handwriting of Tsuchiko.

_I miss her, she was much more of a mother to me than my real one._

I looked in the opposite direction of where I had come from. Maybe the house was over there. Oh, why was this address so hard to find? I put on my glasses again, sighing.

A little girl was running a few metres away from me, and she fell down, scraping her knee in the process.

"Ar-Are ..you ..okay?" I said, rushing over to help her up. She was about 3 years old and was crying hard.

"Don..Don't cry... I...didn't cry.. when my...." I paused, _when my family threw me away. _A lump came up in my throat, and I couldn't continue. The little girl had not stopped crying, but was looking at me with curious wet eyes. I pulled out a rabbit shaped band-aid from my pocket. It was the last one.

"Pretty!" the girl said, as I wiped her knee with a wet tissue, and put the band-aid over the scrape. I smiled at her.

"What are you doing with my daughter!" a harsh voice demanded. I looked up to see a woman storming up to me in high heels.

"I...only helped...her." I said, but she ignored me.

"Momo!" she pulled the girl's hand, addressing her, "Didn't Mommy tell you never to talk with suspicious strangers?"

"PI-Shus?" echoed the child.

The woman began to walk away dragging the girl by the hand.

"Bye-bye!" The girl waved a chubby hand at me, while looking back.

"Bye-bye..." I whispered.

They had now gone, and all the other little children around earlier had seemed to disappear too. It reminded me of the guy I met this morning and also my family.

_Is it always going to be like this for me?_

_Am I always going to be the one left behind?_

_...Alone?_

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A/N: You know, it's pretty hard writing this! I keep on getting all these ideas and scenarios and I'm trying to arrange it in order- DAYUM. I mean- it has gone quite a long way from my original intentions- but it's probably a good thing! (I know, it's only been a few days but me and my overactive imagination!!)

Please R and R!

Lafs.


	5. You Look Familiar

**FIVE: You Look Familiar**

So this was the second half that was going to be chapter 4. It's still the same day by the way.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**______________NORMAL POV_______________**

"Hello, Mr H." said a silky smooth voice.

Sasuke looked up, as the line seemed to be directed at him.

There stood Sakura, smiling at him in all her splendour. Glossy pink hair, large emerald eyes, a perfect body.

He grunted. "Hello yourself- but my surname starts with U."

Sakura laughed enticingly.

"Handsome. Mr Handsome, was what it was."

Sasuke's mouth twisted into a half-smile. This was the look that sent girls fawning over him. Now, any envious girls that had been stabbing Sakura mentally had stopped and was swooning over Sasuke instead.

Naruto now came through the classroom door, with his messy blond hair carefully hiding his eyes.

Sasuke glanced at him.

"'Sup Sasuke! Hey Sakura!" Naruto said nonchalantly, all in a burst of cheeriness. Sakura nodded briefly at him.

_It's like he's completely normal. _Sasuke thought.

"Bro, are you paying attention to me at all? You know for a best mate you _really, really,_ **SUCK**!" Naruto wriggled his fingers near Sasuke's face, waiting for an answer.

"....Yo."

Sakura was twirling a strand of pink hair between her fingers. She wasn't interested when the 'boys' began talking.

Naruto grinned cheekily. He quickly leaned in to Sasuke and hissed "Now's your chance!" and walked past them airily, dumping his bag onto a nearby desk. Sasuke glared at him, meaning to say "Now's not the time moron." Naruto read the look and grinned his "Whatever." look. Naruto began chatting happily to a girl who sat near him.

Sasuke ignored him and looked back at Sakura.

**RING! RING! RING! **

The bell rang. Sakura winked at him, and sidled into her own seat which was on the other side of the room. Sasuke knew that he wasn't the only guy watching her.

"SAKURA! YOU ARE LIKE THE BLOSSOMING FLOWER ON THE CHERRY TREE! FULL OF YOUTH! AND I COME WITH ALL MY PASSION TO GIVE THIS TO YOU!" Rock Lee, one of the school's more loser-ish students yelled as he came into the classroom. He threw a bouquet of flowers onto her desk.

"**Ugh God**, _get away from me_ **you creep**! _Wax your eyebrows_ before you approach me again." The disdain in Sakura's voice was apparent, and she threw the bouquet back at him.

Rock's eyes were very round now.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND MY LITTLE BLOSSOM. YOU MUST BE-"

"Ahem." A dry voice coughed.

"Rock, you don't belong to my class. Get out of here or you'll be sent to the principal." Kakashi walked lazily to the teachers desk and dropped his folder on it. His tousled silver hair and lazy looking eyes weren't in the least bit threatening, yet his presence seemed to command attention.

"I WILL NEVER BRING SHAME TO GAI SENSEI! GOOD MORNING KAKASHI-SENSEI AND GOOD BYE!" Rock saluted, and sped out of the classroom.

"....One disturbed kid." Kakashi commented, and turned to face the class. He sighed, getting into the teachers chair gloomily.

A girl with her hair in a long blonde ponytail put up her hand. Before Kakashi could even acknowledge it, she had already spoken.

"Kakashi-sensei, you look depressed today! And you came on time!"

Some other students also nodded. It was too weird that he had actually come on time.

The silver haired man muttered something which sounded like, _"Perceptive brats." _ He looked at the girl.

"Ino, thank you for your concern. And yes, I won't keep it a secret. Some bastard totaled my car last night and drove away." Sounds of sympathy came from the students.

"Now that's been said, I'll call out the roll." Kakashi opened his folder. The names were answered without missing a beat and Kakashi neared the end of the roll.

"Shino Aburame"

"Here."

"Sakura Haruno"

"Present."

"...Sasuke Uchiha."

"..."

Kakashi looked at Sasuke, who was sitting in the back of the room with him hands held in a calculative posture, fingers locked together. Sasuke met his eyes with a steady gaze.

Kakashi waited for a response.

"Sasuke Uchiha, are you here?"

The gaze just became more intense. The girls were now giggling as they watched with interest.

Kakashi sighed.

"I can see you right there Sasuke. Just answer, will you?"

Sasuke smirked. "...So you're not blind after all. Interesting."

There was a short silence before Kakashi hurriedly marked his name off. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something.

"What's the matter with your pants?" he had seen the rips and tears that were on them. Sasuke just got up lazily and did a 180 degree turn. He turned his head, looking over his shoulder at Kakashi.

"An improvement, isn't it?"

Dealing with students like Sasuke Uchiha was always a pain. Guys like this were always a kick in the rear, and hard to control. Sasuke was the type of guy that was hard to tell what he was thinking, unlike Naruto who at least chatted to people freely- despite being a troublesome student. Kakashi thought about how to best deal with him.

The girls were smitten, and Kakashi saw that some of the guys who were trend-followers had already pulled out scissors from their pencilcases and were cutting their pants. He decided to ignore it for now, and went back to the roll.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Don't wear it out!" Naruto stuck his tongue out and struck a pose.

Kakashi sensei sighed. What with the smart-alecky Sasuke and boisterous Naruto in his class, it was going to be a _**long**_ year.

––______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**_____________HINATA'S POV_______________**

"Th-thank the Lord! M...mira..cles _DO_ hap..pen!" I breathed happily. I had finally found that address! I pumped a fist in triumph, and adjusted my glasses to look at where I had ended up.

The number plate was set in a golden colour with "Uchiha" written on it in fancy letters. There was a large gate, and everything was in white. I stood on my tiptoes to look into the garden. Magnificent trees surrounded the area, and in the centre of one side was a bridge with a little pond underneath. Orange, pink, purple, red and white flowers sprung up in borders like a magical garden. There was the sound of running water and I saw that there was a roman statue of a man, wearing long robes. From his lips sprayed a steady stream of water into the pond.

I raised my eyes beyond the garden. It looked like a mansion. I had heard that the Uchiha's were rich and influential, but I never had expected this!

"M-Maybe... they...w... won't like me!" I shivered a little, hiding underneath the shade from one of their trees. An old wave of paranoia hit me. I hated myself for being like this, but the paranoia had become a distinct trait in my personality ever since...

I shook my head, clearing memories that were trying to force themselves into my head. I bit my lip softly, and gently lifted the latch on the front gate. I walked past the pond and the bridge and came to the door, pulling my suitcase behind me.

"It...it's okay... Tsuchiko said that...they wanted me..." I raised my hand and was just about to lift the lion's head knocker when the door opened inwards.

A startled woman looked back at me. She was in her 40's , and she had kind eyes. I smiled nervously.

"Hello...I'm here...because..I-"

The next thing I knew the woman had me locked in a tight embrace. I was surprised. When was the last time someone had hugged me like this? I closed my eyes, letting her scent ease me. Yes, this was the smell of a mother.

"Hinata, dear! I've been waiting for you!" She let go, and joyfully took my hand, leading me inside.

She happily chatted away as she offered me a seat on a luxurious lounge. She introduced herself as Mrs Uchiha.

"I'm sorry, the letter was unexpected so I didn't have a room prepared for you..."

I shook my head. "No..it's... enough... to just have... a...r ..roof ove...r my head.."

Mrs Uchiha continued, "Even though the house is big, but over half of the rooms are filled with things... my husband likes to collect things you know.. and there isn't much space... even my son's friend Naruto sleeps in the same room as him..."

I gulped. This didn't seem to be leading in a good direction. She was telling me to leave, wasn't she?

"I.... won't trouble you. I have...money..for a place to s..stay.." I blurted out. It wasn't entirely untrue, I did have a little bit of money on me, probably enough to hire a hotel room for one night. But my bank accounts, anything like that had been closed by the Hyuuga family when I left.

I took up my suitcase, but Mrs Uchiha stopped me.

"It's not like I don't want you here, don't misunderstand."

I breathed a small sigh of relief.

"You don't mind sleeping in Itachi's old room do you?"

"W-Who?"

"My eldest son... he's run away from our family for the past few years. His room is waiting for him, but I don't think that son will be back anytime soon."

I smiled gratefully.

"Oh...anywhere will..do."

Now she lead me into Itachis' room. It was on the second floor, next to her other son's room.

The room was large, and I furrowed my eyebrows when I looked around on his shelves. There were many jars, all of them with little preserved animals like fish and octopus in them. They were fascinating, in a slightly eerie type of way.

Mrs Uchiha laughed sadly.

"Itachi was a mystery to me- always getting involved in weird things. Sasuke is a bit of a puzzle too- but that boy only cares about being popular and whatnot." She sighed.

Sasuke? Haven't I heard that name somewhere before? It sounds like something I heard a long time ago. I shook my head, following Mrs Uchiha around the house. She showed me where everything was, and was just like Tsuchiko had described her. _Warm and kind._

____________________________________________________––__________________________________________________________________________

**_____SASUKE'S POV_____**

Naruto grinned, making his little canine teeth shine against the harsh sunlight. It was after school now, and we were sitting outside.

"Didja ask her out? Didja? Didja? Didja?" He offered me his chips, and I rolled my eyes.

"Shut it Naruto. Timing is the essence for these things."

"But it's YOU we're talking about! I bet $50 that she'd go on a date with you even if you were wearing a paper bag. A rotten-mouldy-paper-bag-!!!!." At this Naruto guffawed with laughter, putting his hand against the tree behind us for support. Damn him. He probably already had the image inside his head. And don't you start imagining me in a paper bag either.... _Hey! _

"Remind me why I hang out with a loser like yourself again?"

He finished crunching the last of his chips, then he changed the topic.

"Oh yeah, tonight I'm not coming home until late- like past midnight."

"Why?"

Naruto started drinking his orange juice. "Gonna catch a movie with some guys. Premieres late you know. I'd be back when you're sleeping. And tell your dad so that he doesn't come out in the middle of the night with a rifle thinking I'm all criminal or something, would you?"

My eyes narrowed. Naruto hadn't been hanging out with anyone enough to casually catch a movie with them, so this was weird.... _Whatever, it's his life_. I thought about the situation at home. Oh yeah he didn't know about that girl moving in.

Just as I was about to mention this to him, he grabbed at his rubbish and mine, giving me a ridiculous over-the-top wink, after which he then scooted away.

"Where the hell are you-" I stopped as I saw Sakura coming into view. She was with a bunch of her girlfriends, all wearing short skirts and makeup and accessories. I nodded at her. She caught my eye and came over, after a few of her friends pushed her in my direction squealing.

Time for action.

**____________SAKURA'S POV_____________**

Sasuke was standing in the shade of a tree.

"Go on." Karin pushed me in his direction.

Oh God. I walked over to where Sasuke was. He was so hot, with that immaculate face and toned body and- I repressed a squeal in my throat.

"'Sup Sasuke." I initiated the conversation. He looked at me, his black eyes pulling me into their depths.

"..Yo."

He wasn't a speaker like that Naruto was, but that mysterious charm just made me feel like drooling all the more. I quickly adjusted my hair. _Do I look ok? What does he want to speak with me about? I don't have any pimples on my face, right?_

"Look, if you don't have anything to say-"

"You're hot."

Was that it? I get that everyday from heaps of guys and- **OH. MY. GOD**. **DID HE JUST SAY WHAT I THOUGHT HE SAID?!!!** I began to fan my face with my hand, my heart thumping like festival drums. I spaced out for a moment. _Think! Think! How do I react?! Okay, now was the time for a witty comeback._

"I can't help it, it's over 30 degrees." I said, blinking my eyes innocently at him. _Say it again Sasuke. Tell me how gorgeous I am._

He only smirked, and I saw him raise his hand. It rested on my head briefly.

"What are you-" I stopped when I saw him take down a leaf from my hair. He let it drop slowly to the ground and both of us were watching it, time seemed to pause briefly.

"Since you seem to be so hot- I guess it would be bad if I make you overheat."

Sasuke already was walking away while I processed his words. _Overheat?_ What did he mean?

I clenched my fist in determination, watching his figure moving off in the distance.

"Sasuke Uchiha. You _**WILL**_ be mine."

**______________SASUKE'S POV___________**

I couldn't say it. I was ready to, but the words were just going to leave my mouth when she said that thing about it being 30 degrees and was blinking really fast at me. It killed the mood. And I was reminded of the last time when she had done that, which was back when I thought she was damn annoying.

I groaned, dragging my feet as I came home.

Suddenly I wasn't sure that asking Sakura out so early in the game was a good thing._ I think I'll wait for her to mature, just a little._

I paused at the door.

"Why is it open?" I murmured as I came in. I walked past the entrance of the living room. _Wait._

_Who the hell?_

There was someone sitting quietly on our couch. By the way they were nervously sipping tea from a cup I figured it was a female. Baggy loose clothing, some type of woolen cardigan. _No one I know would be caught dead in the stuff._

_Did some old person just randomly walk in here?_

**_____________NORMAL POV_____________**

"Tch." Came a deep voice from the doorway.

"Someone's _grandma_ came into our house-" Sasuke broke off mid-sentence. The figure had gotten up and was facing him, but was looking at the ground.

"Oh, Sasuke! You're home?" His mother came downstairs and pushed the person towards him. Sasuke took a step backwards from the sudden movement.

"This is Hinata, the girl that will be living with us. And this is my son Sasuke. You two are the same age, isn't that nice? I hope you two will become friends."

"_Ugh_ ...that's a girl?"

His mother gave him a Look.

"Pl-pleas-ed...to...me..meet...yo..you." Hinata stuck out a trembling white hand in his direction. Sasuke ignored it.

The phone rang, and Sasuke's mum went to pick it up.

There was a short silence.

"You look _familiar_." Sasuke looked at the girl, from her violet short hair, past her large broken glasses and down to her shuffling feet. He didn't try to remember where he had seen this style of clothing and manner.

"And another thing." Sasuke turned to go to his room.

"Y-yes?"

"Lose the glasses or you'll be _**burned**_ in school."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Well, now that Sasuke and Hinata are formally introduced, aren't you guys happy? And Rock came out of nowhere- I wasn't even going to have him in this story- but his passion pushed itself in. Haha. I had to include a car in there for Kakashi- ( but in reality that's just me making a statement on _**my**_car. I think my dad took _**my**_car and _**sold it**_without me knowing-today. I mean, I haven't seen it all day.... GRRR!!!)

Anywho, please read and review! You know _you want to_, and you _know I want you to_!

And hold the flames- I'm not great at dealing with spicy stuff!

Lafs.


	6. Light Straw and Burning Fire

**SIX: Light Straw and Burning Fire**

I'm taking a little shift off Sasuke and Hinata for now. They'll return next chappie.

______________________________________________

**_________NARUTO'S POV_________**

Once again I crammed my cereal down my throat. It was the next morning, after I had crept in the house during midnight.

Just as I had expected, Sasuke's dad had discovered me climbing over the fence and wacked my rear with something painful, thinking I was some type of burglar. Geesh. Didn't I tell Sasuke to _tell him_ I was coming home late?!

Sasuke was watching me at the table, his dark eyes seeming to bore themselves in the side of my head.

"Dobe, how was the movie?"

I choked on the cereal, and the milk dribbled over my chin. I looked back in horror at Sasuke, hoping he hadn't noticed. He didn't. Phew. Grabbing a tissue, I wiped the milk away.

"Naruto, dear, I've baked you some cookies." Sasuke's mum offered me some of the most delectable chocolate chip ones I'd ever set eyes on.

"Hmmph, you never made ME any cookies." Sasuke's dad sneered. To which Mikoto only laughed. (Somehow this comment of his made me realise why he hates me so much.... is he _jealous???_)

"Thanks." I grabbed some and made some noise that sounded like "Gotta-leave-mhmmmhhmm-people expecting me," and ran out of the house again, without even looking at Sasuke. I panted at the gate, leaning against it slightly.

_I don't know how long I can keep this up for._

**_______SASUKE'S POV_________**

"We still haven't introduced Hinata to him." Mum sighed.

I grunted. Naruto was acting a little off again. Maybe he's got himself a girl or something?

Hinata came inside from the front door. She was holding a bunch of flowers that she must've (obviously) stolen from our garden.

"For y-you-" she offered the bouquet to my mother, who was elated.

"Oh how sweet! It's a pity that my son doesn't have the sense to do these things for me." Mum looked at me meaningfully.

_She just killed our flowers! Come on!_

Hinata shuffled her way into the kitchen, found a vase somewhere and fumbled with the tap. It didn't open, and she struggled with it some more.

I finished breakfast, and came up behind her to put my plates in the sink.

_Hmmm._ I waited a little, thinking that she'd be able to get it open quickly. She didn't. I rolled my eyes and reached a hand over there, jerking the tap on easily, and my hand brushed against hers.

"Ah!" She pulled her hand back as if a hundred volts had jolted her, almost dropping the vase. I could literally feel her muscles tense up. The reaction almost got _me_ flustered.

"Uhmm, th-thank you." she stammered, giving the vase some water.

"You were annoying the hell out of me." I said dryly, doing what I came to do.

"I-'m so...sorry." She bobbed her head at me apologetically and went to put the vase somewhere.

As soon as she was out of hearing distance, a cough came from my dad.

"Ahem. We all know what a beautiful young lady Hinata is-" I almost_ laughed _(yes, me who never laughed) "-so _I'm telling you son_, to **KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF HER**."

"You gotta be joking." I snorted, half expecting Dad to smile back. But he didn't. God, he was being _serious._

Whatever. I still need to resolve the whole thing with Sakura.

"...planning to send her to your school as well..."

I snapped back to reality, catching the last words- but unable to understand what he was saying. Damn. It couldn't have been important, right?

_____________________**_NORMAL POV__**_____________________

Kakashi sensei came in the classroom , looking extremely depressed. Even more so than the last time, in fact.

"What is it?" asked Ino, accusingly.

"It was one, and now its multiplied... I may as well retire and be happy..." he mumbled. The students all looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Whaddya mean?" Kiba's question was ignored by the teacher, but the root of the problem was solved by the door opening and closing. Now, in the room stood a red haired boy. He had dark circles under his eyes and the audacious "Love" kanji tattooed on his forehead.

"This is Gaara, who most of you already know- since he's just transferred from the class next to us - Kurenai-sensei's class- into this one."

His presence caused a stir in the classroom. Now everyone understood what the tone of utter depression was in Kakashi sensei's voice. The two most troublesome students were now in the same class.

Everyone knew Gaara was a problem student, one even worse than the famed Naruto- even if they caused the same amount of catastrophes. The main difference lay in the fact of their personalities. Naruto would smile and chat to every person like he was their best friend, and it wasn't a trial to figure out what he was thinking. He was annoying, yet at the same time, the blond was endearing. Gaara on the other hand was dangerous. He was sullen and prone to mood swings. And he liked to beat people up. Most of the kids were privately freaking out when they saw him.

"Is there anyone who wouldn't mind Gaara sitting next to them?" Kakashi sensei looked around the classroom, as if he expected someone to yelll, "Me!" Me!" There was an awkward silence which was appreciatively broken by a certain boy.

Naruto grinned, raising his hand.

"If Gaara doesn't mind rock music, sure!"

It was well known that pretty much everyone disliked sitting right next to Naruto. Sasuke sat _near_ him, sure, but no one had taken the seat directly next to him. This was because Naruto always listened to his Orange Ipod loudly with rock music full blast.

The two boys nodded to each other. They never really talked that much, but Naruto was always nice to Gaara, and Gaara had never beaten up a person for being nice to him before. So they were on good terms. The redhead came and sat next to Naruto.

"All the way.... na na na na YEAHHH I wannna ROCKS oooOOOoooOOOOO!!" Naruto nodded his head along with the music, singing as he went- while the rest of the class avoided eye contact with Gaara.

Gaara didn't say a word.

Meanwhile, Kakashi had gone out of the classroom and quickly made himself some coffee. Great. Now the two biggest troublemakers of school had COMBINED. They were next to each other now in his class. _Why_ didn't he have the foresight to put them at different ends of the classroom? _And why the hell was Naruto always hanging around those emo-like kids anyways?!?_ _Like Sasuke ecetera ecetera._

Kakashi gave a_ long_ sigh. After the coffee break he came back to hand out the group assignments which students were to be paired up.

As the papers were handed out, Sasuke glanced at Naruto, waiting for him to look up and give a nod- meaning that they'd work together like they usually did. But Naruto was doing something else which Sasuke didn't like at all.

"Hey Gaara, let's do this one together!" Naruto was beaming at the redhead. Gaara's smoky eyes looked briefly surprised.

"Ok."

Sasuke pursed his lips and frowned.

_**What are you thinking moron?**_

Sakura fluttered up beside him, getting into his line of sight that was directed at Naruto.

"How about it?" She held up the paper.

_**___________The next period, History_____________**_

It was History, and a new casual teacher who no one had seen before came in. He looked around, and rested his eyes upon Gaara. He authoritatively adjusted his glasses before he addressed Gaara disdainfully.

"You, what's with the red hair?"

Gaara looked up at the skinny teacher, not saying any words. Naruto instinctively turned off his Ipod, sensing an exchange about to happen.

"It's trash like you that makes good students go bad." The teacher continued condescendingly.

Gaara's dark circles around his eyes seemed to expand. His eyes dilated. The class could see his body tense up and before anyone realised it, Gaara had left his seat and his hand was clenching threateningly at the teachers shirt.

"Say that again, four eyes."

The teacher brushed Gaara off.

"Hmph. Stand in the hall. And make sure to dye your hair back to its natural colour."

The class held its breath as Gaara inched his face closer to the teacher, staring him down like a snake to a frog.

"Uhh." the teacher started to sweat, feeling his heart palpitate. The air around the two seemed to condense around them.

Suddenly, Gaara let out a little breath as if it had been the tension that he was feeling. He shuffled to the hall, after briefly glaring at the shaking teacher. The class exchanged incredulous looks. They had expected blood on the furniture. They had expected to be invited to the teacher's funeral, based on the rumours they had heard about Gaara. Naruto watched Gaara leaving, from underneath his long lashes. As soon as he was out of the room the teacher stood up a little straighter- all of a sudden feeling much more in control.

"Yes, that should have straightened out his bad ways."

Naruto sprang up from his seat, marching to face the teacher.

"Urr, and what do you want?" The older man said arrogantly, as Naruto looked really quite harmless, with his blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Gaara's hair IS natural!"

The casual teacher laughed, a shrill high and haughty laugh, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"How would you know- blondie?"

Narutos ears burned at 'blondie'. He ground his teeth together momentarily.

"Because, I have not, **ever** seen Gaara with **REGROWTHS**!"

At this, some of the class started to laugh- thinking about Gaara with regrowths. The teacher's eyebrows raised a notch.

Sasuke's lips twitched at what his friend was doing. _**You damned idiot, what are you standing up for Gaara for?**_

"I don't believe you. Stand in the hall." The older man huffed, feeling that if he didn't end this quickly, the students would disrespect him (although they already had).

Naruto kicked at an empty seat, bringing it to a crash on the ground.

"I would, even if you didn't tell me to. I don't want to stay in your stupid class." Naruto turned his head and walked out, unaware that he had managed to boost his popularity a fair bit from this exchange in dialogue. He set out to find the redhead. It wasn't difficult to find Gaara, as he was sitting about 6 metres away from the classroom door.

Gaara was on the ground leaning on a wall, his legs stretched out in front of him. He had a bored look on his face.

"Hey, G-Man. Your hair is for real, right?"

"G-Man?" Gaara stared at Naruto with a strange expression on his face. ".... That doesn't sound good... sounds like g-string."

Naruto laughed, sitting next to Gaara. He patted the ground happily, as he laughed.

"I didn't know you could make jokes like that!"

Gaara grinned, making sure that Naruto wasn't watching.

"Yes, my hair has always been this colour..."

"I knew it! I told that stupid teacher it was!"

"You did?"

Naruto only nodded.

Gaara suddenly felt infected by Naruto's bright personality and started to engage in conversation, something that was very rare of him to do.

"Did he send you out because of your hair too?" the redhead glanced at Naruto's messy crop. Before Naruto could say anything Gaara had a couple of strands of blonde hair at his fingers.

"I can't believe he sent you out for this. This shade of blonde is like sand.... really beautiful." Gaara's fingers let go of the light strands.

Naruto blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed. He had always liked his own hair himself, but no one else had ever liked it.

When the hell was the last time Sasuke had given him a compliment anyways??? It was always _loser_ this, _dobe_ that.

"--Thanks." Naruto grinned, letting his canines be seen.

___________________**_Still at school, Lunch_____**_____________

When the lunchbell rang the first thing Sasuke did was find Naruto and drag him by the collar.

He roughly pushed Naruto near a wall that was secluded, away from the other schoolkids.

"Dude? What's eating ya?" Naruto blinked as innocently as he could, having an inkling that Sasuke had noticed how he was avoiding him.

"You got me and Sakura together- so I'm not ringing about that. But what the hell are you pairing up with Gaara for!? _Stay_ away from him."

Anger flared through Naruto.

"Gaara's not a bad guy! He's just misunderstood!"

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"He's **DANGEROUS**. You might not _know_, but the whole uproar last year about him was that he _**threw**__ the __**teacher out **__the second storey window_ for _**looking at him weird**_. "

Naruto scoffed, pushing Sasuke's hand off his collar. He only saw Gaara as a little quiet, but not a bad guy at all.

"Don't think you're all that just because you're popular Sasuke. I can make friends with whomever I like. And if you'll excuse me, _I have to talk to Gaara_." Naruto shoved past Sasuke with his shoulder and Sasuke watched, stunned as Naruto strolled to a red head across the school grounds.

**________SASUKE'S POV__________**

I didn't talk to Naruto for the rest of the school day.

The only thing he said later to me was that he wouldn't be coming home. Bastard.

"Wha-what's wrong?" asked a gentle voice as I arrived home. I arched an eyebrow, seeing that the Stutterer was standing near me, looking at the ground. (Yes, I've given whatever-her-name-is a nickname.) _What on earth was so interesting about the ground?_ I wondered, seeing as she was always so immersed in it.

"Don't talk to me like we're friends." I almost choked a little on the word 'friend'. Naruto's actions had been cutting me lately, and I couldn't figure out the reason. And he was having fun with Gaara, the most dangerous dude that you could cross paths with.

If you die, Naruto, do NOT blame _me._

"Wh-why _aren't_ we...we...friend..s?"

What, she was still here? I glanced at her pale eyes behind the glasses. And man, those glasses were still broken. But her words carried a meaning for me. If only things were as simple as the way she put it... It was pretty obvious this girl walked the innocent road, huh...

_What the heck man, she's a __**FOUR-EYED GEEK!**_ Why am I thinking about what she's saying, like it's important?

I shook my head, walking away.

____________**HINATA'S POV__**____________

When I saw Sasuke turn away, I took a deep breath.

_We can't be friends?_

I-I hated to say it but I knew it was going to happen when I first saw him.

He was popular. And in my entire life what did the popular children do? They teased me. Ignored me. I was never cool enough to be a friend. I thought perhaps it might be different just this one time, and just like always, I was wrong.

I ran my hand over my hair, adjusting my long fringe so that they covered past my eyes.

_Am I so worthless that no one wants to even talk to me?_

**_______________NORMAL POV_______________**

Naruto's jaw dropped as he came to Gaara's place.

"Erhm... you live here?" Nauro fidgeted. The apartment that Gaara had led him to was- well, looked really normal and even quite stylish. Gaara wrinkled his forehead.

"Anything wrong with my place?" he slotted the key into the front door and opened it quietly, motioning Naruto to follow him inside.

Naruto's cerulean eyes wandered and rested around the room that he was lead into. It was sparsely furnished, but quite neat. There was an electric guitar in the corner of the room. He shook his head profusely, sliding his schoolbag onto the ground.

"Nothing's wrong, just that this place doesn't feel like it belongs to someone like you at all! Except for maybe the guitar...."

Gaara leaned his head back onto the wall he was sitting against as Naruto talked. The hair on his forehead parted, and the tattoo caught Naruto's attention. Gaara's eyes were closed. Perhaps he was taking a nap? Naruto reasoned. After all, it was very taxing on the health to be the 'bad student' all the time. (Naruto didn't see him as bad himself, but whatever.) The blonde silently crept up to the redhead, his hand inching its way to the tattoo. For some reason, he just wanted to trace the character, like so many people had been tempted to do before. Just as his fingertips were about to meet the surface of Gaara's forehead, Gaara's eyes opened and his hand shot out and gripped Naruto's wrist. It was so sudden that Naruto found that his wrist was in considerable and unprecedented pain. He withdrew his hand.

"Don't ever, ever, touch the tattoo." Gaara's usual quiet voice was carrying undertones of potency. The danger signals that Naruto was getting made him squirm and shiver on the spot.

Naruto's eyes flickered to Gaara's face. The blond was determined to not let it get to him. He inhaled some air and continued on cheerily.

"I can't believe you tattooed your head! Where'd you get it done?"

Gaara's eyes suddenly looked distrusting.

"If I told you that I was born with it, would you think I belong in a loony bin?"

The blonde boy didn't laugh.

"No. " Naruto trailed off, pulling at his own shirt until his bare skin was exposed. Gaara's smoky eyes looked confused for a second as he gazed at what Naruto was showing him.

A tattoo on his abdomen.

"I was born with one too." Naruto grinned. "Freak of nature, right?"

Gaara leaned in for a closer look, and Naruto's skin tingled at his breath brushing against it. Gaara scrutinised the tattoo for what seemed to be a long time, but a certain gravity in the air made Naruto unable to move away. There seemed to be something important happening, and Naruto held his breath waiting for something to happen.

"We seem to have a bit in common." broke in Gaara, looking up at Naruto from where he was sitting.

"Hmmm?" Naruto pulled his shirt down quickly, as it had been getting a little cold. "Oh yeah, we were both born with tattoos! How weird is that??! Hahaha!"

The redhead absentmindedly trailed his fingers across the strings of his resting guitar.

"...I don't think the similarities end there..." he murmured, but Naruto couldn't hear him.

A methodical drumming began in the background and the distinct sound of water was heard. Naruto tilted his head to look outside the window.

Gaara stopped being distracted, also listening to the rain falling outside.

"Naruto. It's raining and its dark. Do you want to stay overnight?"

A raven haired silhouette pierced Naruto's thoughts. He sort of half wished that he hadn't taken things overboard with Sasuke in the morning and dissed him, (in a weak attempt to put some distance in between them) over Gaara. And knowing that, he didn't want to go back home to a grumpy glaring Prince of the Darkness anyway. _Yeah, Prince of the Darkness suited Sasuke well as a nickname, come to think of it..._

Naruto grinned, making a peace sign at Gaara.

"Thanks! I'll take you up on that offer!"

Gaara nodded, getting up from where he had been sitting. He walked past Naruto into the kitchen, about to serve dinner. There was a moment though, just as he walked past Naruto that the blonde could have sworn he heard these words coming from Gaara's thin lips:

_"Don't listen to that voice."_

But Gaara didn't turn around to look at Naruto, or even look like he was saying anything at all. Naruto frowned, wondering if he was hallucinating things as he watched Gaara's back walk away from him. He tilted his head, furrowing his eyebrows for about a minute.

Finally, Naruto shook it off, following Gaara into the kitchen- feeling still a little disoriented. But he repelled those curious notions and half ideas which were forming and breaking apart in his mind.

_...............__**After all**_**, **_**there's no way he would know about that.**_

________________

A/N: Finally finished this chapter! Intro'd Gaara, and we'll see how he changes the storyline. WHOO sorry I was writing this one for so long!

R and R please! It makes my day!

Lafs.


	7. Brewing

**SEVEN: Brewing.**

A/N: Sorry for the wait and thanks for the reviews guys! Sasuke's being hated now haha. Everyone seems to be liking Hinata, thank goodness. I want to give her happiness soon. And I didn't know there were so many Gaara fans! O.O That really surprised me! I'm sorry about making them seem a little 'homosexual'. HAHA I wasn't thinking of that at the time, I'm trying to establish a 'bond' between them, which will be explained later in the story. (Although it seems there are a few readers out there who actually want Naruto and Gaara to ehm '_get it on_', as they say. )

Sorry I haven't written this in SOOO LONG. I mean, god, I don't even know what I'm writing anymore, so I hope that any original fans of the story will keep reading.

_**NORMAL POV_**_

"Naruto?"

The blonde woke up, feeling happy. He hadn't heard Kyuubi's voice since last week, and he had found a new friend. He smiled at Gaara, who was fully dressed in uniform and watching him from across the room. The redhead was expressionless.

"You sure sleep long."

Naruto rubbed his eyes. He sniffed, and shot straight off the couch that he had spent the night on.

"Wait, is that-?" he glanced at two steaming bowls on a nearby table.

Gaara shrugged. "I only have ramen so I'm sorry I don't have a healthier alternative-"

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto clapped his hands together with sparkling eyes. He was already taking large hot mouthfuls while speaking to Gaara, who seated himself next to him at his own bowl.

"This is _**ooooh**_ Ohmygosh what flavour is _**slurp**_ this? Gaara, you're the absolute _**yummy**_ best! How'd you know _**mmm**_ how much I love ramen _**urrp**_?"

"You love ramen?" (This was about as much as Gaara had been able to make out with what Naruto was garbling.)

Naruto nodded, slurping the soup. He took a breath.

"You're such a great guy Gaara!"

"Urr." The redhead watched Naruto start eating again, feeling highly unsettled. He'd never been told that he was 'a great guy' before, and with such a convincing honest tone as well!

"Why are you frowning?" Naruto slurped his ramen and some of the soup splattered on Gaara's face. Gaara stiffened. Naruto suddenly realised Gaara's eyes had dilated. Naruto froze, mid-slurp.

_That guy is dangerous._

Stupid Sasuke either had a voice that could travel miles or he was currently practicing astral projection.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Naruto was kicking himself as well. Weren't they getting along all chummy and then Sasuke's stupid voice had to come to him of all times when this happened? Naruto wasn't stupid, he had heard the rumours. But what bothered him the most was that he was doubting Gaara. And what had the red-head done anyway? Invited him into his house, made food for him, ramen, no less...

"Sorry!" Naruto scrambled up to get a tissue and was about to wipe Gaara's face, hoping somehow that he hadn't angered him. Gaara relaxed.

"It's alright. Nothing big." Gaara pulled the tissue from Naruto's hand and wiped off the soup, walking into the bathroom. A flood of relief washed over Naruto.

Of course.

Of course. It was only a little thing. Why did he suddenly freeze up? Damn. Damn. Maybe he was just sensitive because he still heard Sasuke's voice saying '_dangerous.. he's dangerous.._.' in the back of his head. Naruto gritted his teeth together. No, that was a horrible thing to do to Gaara, doubting him.

Naruto looked around the room again. He hadn't noticed much in it last night, and it suddenly seemed strange that Gaara had no photos of family or anything up. (Naruto himself always kept framed pictures of his dad and mum and relatives on Sasuke's table. Sasuke never complained about them.) Gaara had walked back into the room to finish off breakfast while Naruto was looking around.

"Hey Gaara, why don't you have photos of your family up? Your parents?" he looked at Gaara who returned his gaze. But there was something strange in the way he was looking at Naruto. Was it just the way the morning light hit his face through the blinds? Naruto almost thought he saw a hostile expression. Then Gaara's face moved, and now he looked almost indescribably sad. Nah, it couldn't be, the light was probably just hitting his face in a weird way or something. '_I mean, how easy it it to tell a guy's expression when he's got no eyebrows? No offense, of course._ ' Naruto had completely forgotten the issue with the photos and was just entering a silent debate over if Gaara really DID have no eyebrows, or maybe the blonde wasn't looking hard enough when Gaara answered.

"My parents have passed away. That's why I'm living alone."

Another moment of awkwardness. "I-I'm sorry to hear that." Naruto said quietly.

Gaara shrugged, looking away. "It's okay."

'_Gaara must feel so lonely just being in this apartment with only himself…._ ' then Naruto had one of his bright ideas.

"Hey Gaara, can I move in?"

"Pardon?" (At this point Naruto realised that other from being quite a quiet sort of person, Gaara must have had a good upbringing. Normally guys will just kind of grunt a 'Huh'? when confused and surprised at the same time.)

Maybe it was the ramen's effect, but Naruto's thought process moved at the speed of lightening. It was all perfect. He wouldn't be tempted to hurt Sasuke. That beast or whatever inside him would quieten down. And, maybe after a couple of weeks or so when Naruto was sure that he wouldn't hear Kyuubi again then he'd return to the Uchiha's. Oh, and in the meantime, Gaara wouldn't have to be lonely! PERFECT!

"I mean, just for a couple of weeks. I'll help pay rent, and buy my own food. We can do that assignment, and we can talk and have fun. You know. Hanging out with a mate. And me, I'm always fun. You won't be bored, I promise."

Gaara smiled at the last words. Maybe it would be nice for a change. And the assignment really did require some time to finish.

"What type are you though?" the redhead asked.

"Huh? You mean my star sign?" Naruto was confused.

"Not yet? Maybe I was wrong in my theory." Now, Gaara seemed to be speaking open his thoughts rather than addressing Naruto. He looked at Naruto again, smiling.

"Sure, you can stay here."

YES! Naruto pumped his fist in the air. For the time being, his troubles were solved! Naruto looked down at his bowl of ramen. Still quite a bit left. _That _problem could be fixed too!

He finished breakfast and got together his school stuff only to realise Gaara had been waiting for him. See, he was a nice guy after all! If it had been Sasuke, who sometimes got up early, he would have just gone ahead and not waited for him. He shook his head. _'You are so wrong about Gaara, Sasuke. Maybe if you knew him a bit better we could all hang out and be mates."_

**_THE UCHIHA MANSION_**

Sasuke Uchiha, age 16, slumped into his chair roughly with a bowl full of cereal in one hand and carton of milk in his other. He had bleary eyes and his spiked hair was a little droopy, being that he didn't spend as much time as he usually did on it that morning. Mikoto gave him a Look from where she was standing in the kitchen and his father's eyebrows lowered over his newspaper as both parents observed their son as discreetly as possible. And by 'discreet', they were looking at him with the force of laser beams coming from their eyes.

The black-haired teenager didn't notice them exchange glances to each other. He only unscrewed the cap for the milk bottle and poured it over his cereal, spilling half of the milk over the table top. It splashed and hit Hinata who had been solemnly chewing on her own breakfast across from him.

"Damn son-of-a-" Sasuke muttered and grabbed at the nearest tissue to wipe up the spill in front of him.

"U-um, th-that's -a-" Hinata tried her best to tell Sasuke, but it was too late.

The tissue Sasuke had in his hands was bigger than expected. In fact, it was a little _vertical _and seemed to be stuck. Sasuke irritably ignored The Stutterer and yanked harder at the tissue.

**CRASH!**

The _curtain_ that Sasuke had yanked at fell down, sprawling bulges of fabric disarrayed over the table and onto the floor. With it had also came violently the rod that held it over the window. The raven hair slumped a little as he realised what he had done. He started to bundle up the fabric for the wash as a substantial corner had dipped itself into Sasuke's now inedible breakfast.

Mikoto came running at the sound, took a look at the situation and hurriedly began clearing up the mess.

"Dear, is something going wrong at school?" She ventured to ask, glad to have a way to bring up the topic.

"School's fine." He answered curtly, feeling even grumpier that this was all happening in front of an outsider. Sasuke's dark eyes glanced at Hinata as if he had just remembered she was there. Which was true. If she hadn't spoken he wouldn't have counted her presence at all. He started to make his breakfast again at a clean spot on the table.

Sasuke's dad spoke up, "Where's that ramen kid? You know, the blonde one with the big mouth?" It was ridiculous, the way he put it. Naruto had lived with them for a good few years now but he still preferred not calling Naruto by name.

Sasuke's hands stopped, his voice lowering into a growl. "No idea." _Naruto had not come home last night after the warning he had administered about Gaara. _Sasuke could not remember when was the last time he and Naruto had seriously argued. In fact, it was probably their first time seriously falling out. Why did Naruto not listen? And he'd been avoiding Sasuke as well. It wasn't as if the black-haired boy had actually _done _anything to deserve…

But wait. Maybe he _had. _ Was it from the issue with Sakura? But Naruto had said it was fine! He even purposely tried to set them up together, whatthehell! Hadn't Naruto seemed sincere though? Was there something else? A reason that would make Naruto hate him and not show it?

" _Inconsistent, hypocritical bastard… If you're angry, then say so! " _Sasuke clenched his jaw, stirring and looking at his newly prepared cereal idly.

Mikoto started speaking to her husband with a little laugh.

"Not seeing Naruto around makes our son look pretty lonely doesn't he?"

The husband nodded back at her as he replied.

"Isn't the ramen boy his only close friend? Since they were children Sasuke had never been able to make friends that easily so - " Mikoto made a face. He had overstepped the line.

"Stop talking about that loser. I've got heaps of friends." Sasuke snapped. However, the last few words quavered and Sasuke realised that it was a lie. Sure, he had plenty of friends, as in people that would hang out with him. But how many of them actually cared? He stopped thinking about it, afraid of the answer he would come up with.

It was too late.

_How many of his 'friends' were fake and only hung out with him because he was 'cool, smart and rich'? (As he had heard the girls in his class say those were his defining qualities.) _He'd hung around a few guys like that before, who were hoping they could get more girls by hanging out with him. Something of a symbiotic relationship, with the exception he had nothing to gain but empty friendship.

Sasuke's head was clearing a little and he was getting conscious of Hinata's presence, even if she was only a some quiet girl. He looked at her again, only to see she was looking back. His line of sight trailed down her face.

He noticed angrily that Hinata had a tiny smile, curving right under her nose. As soon as she realised he had seen her, she bit her lip and averted her eyes away quickly. It happened very quickly, and Sasuke might have thought he imagined it, but the swinging motion of her hair betrayed her. The smile pricked Sasuke's nerves instantaneously.

"Oi, what are you finding so funny?"

She was looking nervously at the ground again. Hinata pointed to the wall clock, her pale fingers peeping from their long sleeves. Sasuke absentmindedly noticed how thin her fingers were. His attention was then diverted by the clock. It was time for school.

Sasuke didn't wait for an answer from Hinata, but growled, tugging at his bag. He stalked out of the house.

Mikoto and her husband looked at each other, and then burst into peals of laughter.

"That was interesting, wasn't it? I haven't seen our son so agitated before!" Mikoto wiped at a tear. Her husband nodded back.

Hinata had gone to the window, watching Sasuke slam the front gate and walk down the street with hands buried deep in his pockets. She blinked her lavender eyes. He was quite strange wasn't he? Always coming off effortlessly cool, but even cool people had moments like that. Even popular kids were like that at times. Showing emotions such as anger, sadness. Just like she did. And the distance between her type of people and his type weren't really quite so far, was it? They all wanted friendship, wanted love and caring no matter which group they belonged to. It made her feel a little stronger inside that she realised his life wasn't perfect like she had imagined.

And if they weren't that far... they could be friends, couldn't they?

**_HINATA'S POV_**

He caught me stifling a laugh. I didn't mean to, but it just escaped me. Even though I had been living here for only a short while, I could see that Sasuke-kun was one of the popular kids that had lots of friends. Someone who I wanted to be like. Sasuke always seemed to be so popular and perfect that I had forgotten he was human as well and went through good times and bad times. I just smiled without thinking because he looked so _real_ instead of being a painted picture. I could see emotion in him and it was just _nice_ to see him disoriented for once. It was comforting to know that underneath all exteriors that there was something human within all of us.

Maybe Sasuke is the type of person to hide all important feelings. I wonder if, one day, he will find a person to share his troubles with?

I turned to find Mikoto looking at me.

"Sasuke will be friends with you eventually." She patted the hair on my head soothingly.

How did she know that was what I was thinking of?

"Umm... Mrs ...Uchiha?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Who..who is.. Na...Na..ruto?"

Mikoto and her husband exchanged a glance.

"My worst enemy." Sasuke's dad said gruffly, his hands crumpling the newspapers at the corners. I got a bit scared by his intensity, and Mikoto saw me. She laughed.

" Don't worry about him, he's just jealous."

"I'm not jealous! I'm just saying, what's so great about him... I notice you cook him more yummy food than you give to me... and Sasuke spends more time with him than me..."

I tried not to smile.

"Dear, he's a growing boy, of course I must give him more food. And of course Sasuke would rather spend time with his best friend than an old man like you."

Mr Uchiha shut up, but I could still hear him grumbling something about "That Naruto's stealing my family away from him- damn that little blonde hooligan."

I smiled to myself. Naruto sounded like an interesting person. At least, I wanted to see what he looked like.

"Ah." Mikoto had run out of the room and came back with a picture frame. She offered it to me, and I accepted it, looking down at the photo.

There was Sasuke, looking quite grumpy, as if he had a wedgie and next to him….

I've never seen a smile so bright, so honest. Naruto was a boy with blonde hair and clear blue eyes. He had his arm slouched casually over Sasuke's shoulders and was doing some type of hand signal that I suppose popular kids do. He had slightly tanned skin, and a cheeky grin. I found myself smiling as well. He had to be a good person, I was sure of it.

"Like the sun and the moon, isn't it?" Mikoto traced the frame with her fingers as she took it back.

"I-I'd like to… be… friends.. With hi-him." I stuttered. Naruto looked exactly like the type of person who could give you strength on the gloomiest days. Perhaps that was why Sasuke had ended up being best friends with him. It was only a photo, but I already felt like he'd be a good friend … no.. I musn't think… something like that.. That would be giving myself false hopes. In my entire life, I had only Tsuchiko as my closest friend. I don't want to be greedy… but I want friends my age as well. Tsuchiko is more like a motherly figure in my life…

"Oh, Hinata. Me and my husband.. We've decided to take a vacation for a couple of days… since we haven't spent much time with each other recently…"

I didn't understand what she was trying to say. Mikoto and Mr Uchiha looked at each other. I noticed that Mr Uchiha was blushing. He cleared his throat, but Mikoto didn't let him say what he was going to say, by simply saying it herself.

"So… until Tuesday… we'll be sightseeing…. And you will stay at home with Sasuke, and Naruto if he comes back."

My face heated up. Staying here with Sasuke? He.. He… I wanted to protest, but I couldn't say anything.

Mikoto's expression changed as she saw my red face.

"Sasuke won't DO anything to you. I've got confidence that my son won't do anything indecent!" she said firmly. I shook my head. No, I hadn't been thinking that at all. I was worried. Sasuke didn't seem to like me. And with Mr and Mrs Uchiha gone, there would be no warmth here. Perhaps only open hostility from Sasuke. My stomach felt sick. It would be like the place I had run away from. That cold atmosphere.. With no caring… no… NO. It won't be that bad. At least I won't be in that dark room by myself with no light… I looked at the Uchihas, feeling like crying. But I bit down on my lip. It would be considered weak if they knew what I was thinking. Let them believe that I was worried about Sasuke doing something 'indecent' to me. (By the way, I still don't know what they mean by this. I have a feeling I don't want to know anyways.)

The worst, worst thing for me is having that feeling of neglect attack me. I want to be friends with Sasuke, but even so, it won't happen overnight. He'll ignore me probably. I need someone caring near me… I need… I'm selfish for wanting them to stay. I looked back at the two Uchiha's, who were judging my face. They want to be with each other, and have a nice romantic getaway. It would be too selfish if I said I wanted them to stay here just so I can have some peace of mind.

I lowered my face.

"P..please… enjoy yourselves…"

"See, I told you there was nothing to worry about!" Mr Uchiha said triumphantly, as if my approval had been the last hurdle. Mikoto hesitated, looking at me, but I only lowered my head further. Her eyebrows were raised in the middle slightly, as if to say "Is it really okay? Is it?"

I said nothing so she left with Mr Uchiha. Both went upstairs to pack their traveling things.

While I was by myself, I cleared the table and washed the dishes. There was no way that I would be so ungrateful as to just be lazy and not show my gratitude to them for letting me live here.

Now that I was free I thought back to Tsuchiko. How was she? I wanted to know badly. If it wasn't for her, I would never be living here peacefully. I still have to thank her, to let her know how much she has done for me. She'll want to know what's happened to me too. What can I do so that she will know? I don't have a phone.

I'll write a letter to her. Anonymously sent, so that my family can't track me down.

**_NORMAL POV_**

Sakura watched the raven-haired boy sitting beside her coyly from her thick eyelashes. Sasuke was so hot. Sasuke was so dreamy. He was smart. His family was rich. Damn, how lucky could a girl get? She noticed a few other girls across the classroom glancing over with jealousy. She stuck her tongue out audaciously at them, and they looked away quickly. Sasuke was the hottest boy in the school. And I'm the hottest girl. Made for each other? I think so. Sakura thought to herself. Meanwhile, Sasuke was bent over his work and filling in answers with his small, neat handwriting.

If Sasuke wasn't peeved at Naruto, then he probably would have been focussed on the flirtatious Sakura. No one noticed that the blonde boy and the raven-haired boy weren't talking.

"Hey." Sakura traced her finger over Sasuke's forearm lightly.

_Don't bother me now Sakura, I'm busy feeling grumpy and obnoxious._

Sasuke glanced angrily at the direction of Naruto and Gaara. Naruto was talking animatedly, while Gaara smiled quietly.

Sakura poked him harder, feeling a little neglected.

"What?'

Sakura's green eyes squinted as she noticed.

"Hey, why aren't you and Naruto talking? And why is he so chummy with Gaara? I can't believe Gaara's not making any trouble, huh."

Sasuke thought over her words. She was right. Gaara actually had just spent class time being quiet and nodding and smiling at whatever Naruto was saying. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy. But then it had only been a couple of days since he had transferred into the class. Sasuke watched Gaara silently. What type of person was he? That pale skin, almost hypnotic green eyes, the missing eyebrows, the constant empty expression. Was he just a normal guy like Naruto had said?

The face was impossible to judge by what emotions ran underneath. What were his thoughts? Sasuke found it hard to categorise him. Of course, it could also be a grave mistake to judge someone by their cover. But he was known as a dangerous person.

Sasuke himself was just a normal guy who didn't like rules, or having them imposed on him by grown-ups.

Naruto was the type that was a troublemaker and prankster.

But Gaara, what type of person was he?

Perhaps he could be someone silent who didn't know how to express or control himself. Or he could be the type that was cold, calculative. Not that Sasuke had known many of those guys in his young life. 16 years of being alive didn't give you enough experience with dangerous personages. It almost surprised him by how much thought he was giving to the redhead.

Gaara looked up and straight into Sasuke's eyes. He had known Sasuke was looking. Sasuke cooly looked back at his sheet of paper to find he had absentmindedly put question marks all over it.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked gently, sensing some weird vibe. She glanced at his sheet, also surprised. Sasuke shoved the paper into a book.

"Yeah."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto again. Was it because of Sakura that there was this change of behaviour? Sakura sat there looking down, her long lashes creating a shadow on her smooth skin. There was a tinge of rosiness to her cheek. Her plump lips were puckered slightly as she looked at a question she did not know how to answer. Sasuke felt a bit tingly along his spine. Just by simply sitting next to her, he was feeling her beauty all over again.

_It's now or never._

"Sakura."

She looked up at him. She was definitely alluring, her pink hair falling loosely around her shoulders. Wide eyes with inky lashes. Perhaps it was calculated, thought Sasuke. There was no way she could do this without knowing how bewitching she looked.

And for her part, it _was _calculated. Sakura smiled slightly, her pink lips curling up at the corners. She had studied herself in the mirror for a long time. She knew her best angles, where the light would seem to light her emerald eyes. She had thought of everything down to the smallest minutiae.

"Mmm?"

"Are you free this Friday?" Sasuke himself didn't know what he looked like at the moment. Sakura shivered. They were definitely on par in the realm of hotness. His voice seemed huskier, and the room had gone silent. This was an important moment, she realised. The other students had stopped fidgeting and were paying attention. The most attractive male and female, respectively, were about to go off the single list. A lot of hate was surging from the guys that wanted Sakura. And the same from the girls that wanted Sasuke.

"Yes." Sakura was now mentally squealing with excitement. THE Sasuke was asking her out! They were going to be official! Her chest was swelling with pride.

"How about 7 at the movies?"

"Ok." Sakura was blushing now.

Sasuke hazarded a look to Naruto's direction, which he regretted instantaneously.

The blond-haired boy's face had drained of its colour. His ears were red and a look of dismay was evident. Naruto tried to smile back at him, tried to give him a hearty approval. He managed to raise the corners of his mouth, but Sasuke could tell that it had no heart in the way Naruto's blue eyes looked. They were indescribably sad.

_It WAS Sakura, you blockhead! _Sasuke berated himself. _What have you lost? Your best mate?_

But then he looked back to the blushing Sakura.

An irrational thought then came, one laced with hormones and almost distasteful arrogance.

_But what have you got to gain?_

A/N: I'm alive! I wanted to write a more exciting chapter but it just didn't turn out that way. Hope you guys keep reading. 3


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